Equestrian
by alliluna
Summary: A horse race is cause for concern. Family fluff for MM Tribute Day


_Happy MM tribute day! I thought I wouldn't have anything to contribute for today, because I'm in the middle of doing Nanowrimo and I have lots of schoolwork and I'm also in the rehearsal process for a musical and life is crazy but I wrote this today. So it's pretty much unedited... Anyway, it's vaguely based off of 5x06, and I hope you enjoy!_

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><p>The horse trotted across the ground with a proud air about it, as if the rider on its back was the most important person in the world. In Matthew's mind, the horse was correct. He grinned as he watched his wife trot around the field right by the stables.<p>

"Are you ready for the race tomorrow?" he asked, as she brought the horse near to him. She slid off and held the reins close, so that the horse would not stray.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Would you like to go on a ride with me this afternoon?" she asked. "I know you don't trust Ruby yet, but she's a very good horse and I'd like to be able to ride somewhere other than here. You'll never let me ride Ruby out alone, will you?"

He shook his head and took her hands. "She seems to be a wonderful horse, but you did buy her from the army auction, and she was in France... The army said she's a lot better off than most of them, but she's still easily frightened."

"Would you like to go on a ride around the grounds then?" Mary repeated. "That we you can keep an eye on Ruby and I."

He sighed. "I don't ride, Mary."

"I distinctly remember you saying that you ride," Mary said with a smirk. "It fact, I'm pretty certain it was one of our first topics of conversation."

"Well, I haven't since the war, and I'm not exactly inclined to try... I can't really ride my bicycle anymore, a horse is probably out of the question."

She gave him a sympathetic look. It was a shame that he wouldn't... or couldn't ride. But she understood, he didn't want to risk aggravating his injury. She simply gave him a conciliatory kiss and managed to mount her horse again. "Well, I suppose I'm probably ready for the race. I'll just take another spin around the field, and then should we go in?"

"George probably will want one of us to read him a story before he takes his nap," Matthew replied with a nod.

"He does have a nanny, you know." Mary made this comment to remind him that he didn't have to do everything himself, but she knew very well that he would not listen. He was still very middle class, and she had to admit that she loved that about him.

"You dislike that nanny as much as I do," Matthew shot back. "Sybil and Tom don't have a nanny for Sybbie, and they both work. Why does George need one?"

Mary shook her head. "Sybil likes to break the mold, and she's more than capable of caring for a child. I know little about it, other than what I've learned from George, and you don't know much either. But in any case, he'd grown used to having a nanny now," she said, and she trotted off around the field once more.

He allowed a smile to reappear on his face as he watched his wife.

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><p>Mary watched through the door of the nursery as Matthew read to their little boy. George looked at the pictures, enthralled, and Matthew read the words to him, making all sorts of different voices which made the little boy laugh.<p>

At a lull in the story, Matthew's reading stopped and George looked up and saw his mother in the doorway. "Mama!" he cried, happily patting the book in front of him.

"What are you reading?"

George stared intently at the picture before giggling and saying, "Peter Pan!"

"Is it a good book?"

"Yes," he replied, his eyes starting to get droopy.

Matthew put the book on a side table and stood up, his son nestled in his arms. "You're getting heavy, mister."

"I'm a big boy," he said, yawning as he spoke.

Both of his parents laughed and Matthew sat him on the bed. "Let's take your shoes off and then you can have a nap. How does that sound?"

"Nanny usually does that," George said.

"Well today your Mama and I are going to do it. Now do you just nap in these?" Matthew asked, pulling at his clothes.

"Yes."

Matthew took George's little shoes off of his feet. "Good. Now do you want me to tuck you in?"

He nodded sleepily and Matthew pulled back the covers on his small bed so that he could lay down. Once George was settled, Matthew pulled the covers up, turned the light off, and kissed George's forehead gently. Mary followed his example and George's lips turned up in a tiny smile.

"Is it that hard to care for him?" Matthew asked as they closed the door of the nursery behind them. "Nanny's going to be mad at us for doing her job but I being able to be with him without interference. Like a father should."

Mary shook her head. "Why don't we discuss this after the race? It's luncheon and then I have an appointment down in York, and your mother and Sybil and Tom are coming up for dinner. And personally, I'd like to be able to formulate a good argument."

"Well then I suppose I'll concede to my wife. In any case, I'm rather ready for luncheon."

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><p>"Do you think he'll like it?" Mary asked Anna as she patted her newly bobbed hair. She had been feeling a little bit behind in fashion, and she had wanted to surprise Matthew as well as do something for herself.<p>

"I think Mr. Crawley would like you with any hairstyle," Anna said, smiling as she fastened Mary's necklace.

Just on cue, Mary heard a knock on the door that connected his dressing room to their room. "Come in!" she said, a big grin lighting up her face.

Matthew opened the door and began to walk towards his wife, but stopped when he saw her hair. "Mary, you..."

"Do you like it?"

He grinned. "I loved your long hair, but this looks lovely!"

"Well, we'll see how the rest of the family reacts," Mary said, putting a hand on his cheek.

"Or we could just stay up here and avoid dinner..." Matthew said with a cheeky smirk on his face.

She hit his hand gently. "What would the family think?"

"Sybil and Tom have done it," he replied innocently.

"Sybil and Tom have also tried to elope. I think we're a bit more respectable than that. Besides, I have a horse race to compete in tomorrow," Mary said.

"Alright, let's go face the family then."

"You sound as if it is a chore."

He raised an eyebrow. "It can be."

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><p>"George, do you see your Mama with the horse out there?" Matthew asked, his son in his arms. He shifted the toddler into his left arm as best he could and pointed towards the people on horses waiting for the race to start.<p>

"Mama ride?"

Matthew nodded. "Yes, Mama rides. And do you thing she's going to win the race and have the fastest horse? Because I certainly do."

"Mama is a good rider," George replied with affirmation.

"Yes, she is. She's much better than me, especially because I don't ride. Maybe you'll be an equestrian like your mama."

"Eq.. ?" George said, trying to sound out the difficult world.

Matthew rubbed his son's head. "Something like that."

"Can we get closer?" George asked eagerly.

Matthew looked down at the amount of people gathered by the fence at the edge of the course. It was too crowded, and he didn't want to bring George into a huge crowd. "No, we can see better from up here. Because we're not tall enough to see over everyone's heads if we're down there."

Tom came up next to him, holding Sybbie. "I'm surprised you came," Matthew said. "Doesn't Sybil have work?"

"She wanted to come cheer on Mary. She'll be over here soon."

"She came just to cheer on Mary?"

Tom nodded. "She may not be a fan of aristocratic pastimes, but Mary is her sister and they haven't spent much time together lately, so Sybil wanted to come. And Sybbie enjoys horses, and she talks about them often, so she's going to like a real live horse race. Right Sybbie?"

"Yes Da!" Sybbie said, looking at the horses. "They're pretty."

"Don't you agree, George? Are the horses pretty?" Matthew asked his son.

George nodded and yawned. "I want the horses to run."

"Me too!" Sybbie cried.

Matthew turned around and saw Sybil running towards them. "Well, your mama is here, Sybbie, so the race should be starting soon."

As he said that, they heard yelling, telling all of the riders to get ready. And then, someone shot a blank. Almost all of the horses went. Except for one.

It was hard to see from the hill, but Matthew instinctively knew. The horse was whinnying, and the rider fell off. And he could see a hat fell off, and short dark hair on the head of the rider. He put George down quickly. "George, stay with Uncle Tom." He took a deep breath and motioned to Sybil. "I think that might be Mary."

Sybil followed him as they ran down the hill, and they skidded to a stop where officials were holding curious viewers back. "Excuse me, do you know who the rider is," Matthew asked,in a panicked voice. Mary knew how to stay on a horse, but a horse scared by a gun might have been too hard for even her to manage."

"Number 11, I think," the official said, and Matthew's heart pounded. It was Mary.

"Please let me through, that's my wife," he said, and so the official allowed his to go to Mary.

There were a couple people already around, and she was opening her eyes. "What happened?" she asked groggily.

"Ruby got scared of the gun and you got thrown," Matthew said. "Are you feeling okay?"

She nodded as best she could. "I think I got bruised, and my head hurts, but otherwise I think I'm okay."

He closed his eyes in relief and held out his hand to help her up. She winced as she tried to take a step and so without thought he took her up in his arms.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you home," he said, whispering into her ear gently.

"You're not supposed to carry me," she replied. "You'll hurt yourself too."

"Shh, don't worry about me. Come on, the car isn't far and we'll get Clarkson to come and examine you."

She looked back on the race and sighed, her cheeks reddening from the embarrassment of falling off of her horse, but she found herself enjoying being so close to Matthew.

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><p>"You haven't seriously injured anything, just knocked yourself up a little bit. I would recommend rest, and you'll have some bruises for a little while, but nothing major. You were lucky, Lady Mary."<p>

Matthew nodded. "Nothing else but rest, then?"

"Yes. Well, I must go."

"Thank you, Doctor," Matthew said as he led him out of his and Mary's room.

When he came back, Mary was looking at him expectantly. "Well, are you going to berate me? I know using a horse that we got from France probably wasn't the best idea, but she was the fastest and she seemed so stable..."

"It's perfectly alright," Matthew replied. "Maybe it wasn't the wisest idea, but I know you were trying. And she did seem stable, but sometimes it's not hard to scare them... I know."

She smiled ruefully. "I'm sorry that we took George home from the race early, he seemed to be enjoying it so much."

"Have you formulated your argument for the nanny?" he asked as he crawled up in bed beside her.

"It's still not easy caring for young children, but once our children have turned five, then we'll raise them ourselves. How does that sound?" Mary asked.

"Children?" he asked.

"Yes," said Mary innocently. "Once they've all turned five, we'll let the nanny go and we'll care for them ourselves."

"All of them? Mary, is there something you aren't telling me?"

"Oh, only that maybe in eight months or so we might have another addition to the family." Mary smirked while Matthew's face lit up.

"You're pregnant?"

She could not do anything but nod happily. Matthew leaned over and kissed her, careful not to touch her bruises. "Well, I suppose since you've told me that, now I have to agree to your terms."

"I don't know, you could negotiate. You do love a good argument."

"More than a good argument, I love a good kiss. Will you comply?"

She touched his face gently. "Do you even have to ask?"

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><p><em>Thank you for reading, and reviews make my day and encourage me to write! :D<em>


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